A bribe case was registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) against an Assistant Commissioner of Maharashtra tax and some other officers of the State GST department. They allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 1 crore from a company's director to settle a pending tax matter, an official said on Tuesday.
The offence under section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act was registered against Arjun Suryawanshi, Assistant Commissioner of State Tax (investigation branch), and other officers on February 2, the official said.
The ACB filed an FIR after a letter was written by the Special Commissioner of State Tax and Chief Vigilance Officer to Maharashtra Director General of Police (ACB) seeking a probe into the alleged corruption by officers of the investigation branch of the state tax.
The probe into the bribe case revealed that Suryawanshi and his team conducted raids between July 5 and August 7 last year on a firm, which had an outstanding tax of more than Rs 20 crore.
Despite several reminders, the firm's director did not pay the pending tax, following which the GST department officials visited his office and residence also, the official said.
On August 21, Suryawanshi allegedly sent a WhatsApp message demanding Rs 1 crore from the firm's director to settle the tax matter, said the official.
The bribe demand was confirmed (though no money exchanged hands) during an investigation after which the FIR was registered, he said, adding further probe was underway.
(With PTI inputs)
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